HSBC to sell German private banking assets

Global banking giant HSBC has announced its intention to offload its private banking division in Germany.HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt and HSBC Trinkaus Investment Managers, HSBC's subsidiaries based in Germany which work with corporate, institutional and wealthy private clients, have entered into an agreement to sell their private banking activities and private banking-related fund business to the VP Bank Group, part of Liechtenstein's Verwaltungs-und Privat-Bank Aktiengesellschaft.The private banking activities being sold had assets under management (AuM) of €1.5bn by the end of June while the private banking fund business had AuM of €0.7bn.HSBC said that the transaction, which will see around 20 employees transfer to VP Bank, should complete in the fourth quarter of the year. HSBC Trinkaus, which employs over 2,500 staff, works out of seven locations in Germany as well as a head office in Düsseldorf. BC